Birthday Wishes
by Krin Dreamweaver
Summary: For his twenty-first birthday Ryouko gives Tenchi a gift that will change both their lives forever.


** Standard Disclaimer **  
** All the characters and places described herein are  
**the property of Pioneer and AIC and probably a bunch  
**of random Japanese people. All of them are almost  
**assuredly richer than me, so please don't sue.  
** The following is a work of fiction. Any  
**resemblance to real people or situations is purely  
**coincidental.  
** /Standard Disclaimer **  
** Author note thingum **  
** I wrote this in two nights. It's my first ever  
**fanfic about anything and I'm actually rather surprised  
**I finished writing it; I have a tendency to start  
**stories and never finish them.  
** Continuity-wise this story takes place in the OAV universe, though  
**it does diverge slightly from it since it is temporally-shifted by  
**two years so that Tenchi was born in 1979 (as he was in the TV  
**universe) rather than 1977.  
** As with all authors, comments are more than welcome  
**Krin (krin@hotmail.com)  
** /Author note thingum **  
  
Birthday Wishes  
  
--one--  
Meditation  
  
A fat, round moon peeked down over treetops rustling in the warm summer   
breeze. Here and there the light wind kicked a fallen leaf across the carefully   
swept paving stones that surround the Masaki shrine. Batting them idly about   
the courtyard like a cat with a well-worn toy. By the time the breeze reached   
the stairs upon which Tenchi sat, it had little force to do more than gently   
rattle the sliding door behind him and gently toss his hair. Despite the   
softness of the door being shifted in its frame, Tenchi would start each time,   
half-turning to see if it was his father and grandfather finally emerging.   
And each time he would realize it was again merely the wind and turn back to   
staring out over the moonlit court and into the darkness of the woods beyond.  
  
Tenchi sighed wearily. He knew this was very important to his elders, and   
that it should be equally important to him. In some ways he truly did feel   
honored and a bit awed, but lately his world had seemed to be masked by a thin   
veil of gray. The once bright and shining days of life were dragging by in an   
ever dimming parade. When Tenchi had finally approached his father with his   
depression, Noboyuki had dismissed it as Tenchi's fears about college and having   
to move on from the world of high school. Tenchi had smiled and agreed, but deep   
down he knew that wasn't it. His grandfather hadn't dismissed his feelings as   
easily as his father, but Tenchi had been left feeling even less satisfied from   
that encounter.  
  
"A young student once approached his master, asking, 'Master, why do the   
leaves fall from the trees in winter? Would not it be more logical that the   
trees have their leaves in winter to cheer the souls of men in a time of   
unhappiness?'," Katsuhito had said, "And the master replied, 'The snow hangs   
heavy on their branches.'"  
  
Tenchi supposed that there was a deep lesson to be learned in there   
somewhere, and he suspected it had to do with whining about being depressed to   
old men, but, it was all his grandfather would say on the subject.   
  
Tenchi sighed again, running his fingers through his hair, now hanging   
down to his shoulders. He was so used to wearing it pulled back that it now   
felt vaugely uncomfortable loose. He could not, in fact, remember a time when   
he was awake and out of the shower that he had not had it tied back. Even that   
day he'd worn it in a tail until his father and grandfather had appeared at his   
door to summon him to the shrine. But now it hung down to tickle his bare   
shoulders, another symbol to mark the occasion.  
  
*At least they picked a warm night for this*, Tenchi thought, running his   
hands over his arms and looking down at the pair of thin silk pants that were   
all he wore, *It would be like Grandfather to have me sit out here all night in   
the middle of winter. Father probably talked him out of it. I bet Grandfather--  
*  
  
Tenchi was jolted out of his musings by the sound of the sliding door   
opening--for real this time, not another trick of the wind. Tenchi stood and   
turned to face his grandfather, clad only in the same silk pants, as he stood   
backlit by flickering candlelight in the doorway.  
  
"It is time Tenchi, come inside now."  
  
Tenchi bowed respectfully before answering, "Yes, sensei."  
  
In this evening's activities, Katsuhito would play the role of teacher,   
not grandfather, Tenchi, no matter his mood, knew better than to disrespect   
that.  
  
Katsuhito turned and led Tenchi into the small room. Tenchi saw his   
father immediately, he was clad in the same attire as the other two and though   
he was normally self-conscious about having developed a bit of a spare tire in   
his middle-years he stood proudly now. Tenchi could tell by his father's eyes   
that Noboyuki was working hard to repress a grin and tiny twitches of his   
father's fingers told Tenchi that they itched to be holding a camcorder right   
now. Tenchi resisted the urge to smile and followed Katsuhito across the   
hardwood floor that he had spent so many hours polishing to give it the subtle   
glow it now took from the light of a dozen candles scattered around the room.  
  
The air hung heavy with the scent of incense and it was already making   
Tenchi slightly lightheaded, he had never been as easy with the stuff as his   
father and grandfather and this batch was particularly strong. Lowering himself   
to a small cushion near the incense holder Tenchi found himself eye to eye with   
his grandfather's unwavering gaze. From the corner of his vision Tenchi saw his   
father bow deeply before backing out of the room and closing the two in behind   
the sliding door. Tenchi tried to keep his gaze on his grandfather's eyes,   
thinking that this would be the one time the old man wouldn't beat him at   
everything, but the incense proved to be his undoing. It made his eyes water   
and he had to blink rapidly too clear them. As soon as he'd succeeded his   
grandfather closed his eyes, having not blinked once of course, and drew a deep   
breath before saying, "Masaki Tenchi. This is the day of your twenty-first   
year. This rite is a tradition in your father's family and, now, in your   
grandfather's."  
  
*I hate it when he does that,* Tenchi thought randomly, *It never fails to   
creep me out when Grandfather refers to himself in the third person.*  
  
"In order to cleanse your mind and ready your spirit for the trials of   
life that await you, you will spend the remainder of the night, all of tomorrow,   
and until midnight of the night which follows in silent meditation. You will   
not speak, you will not eat, you will not sleep, you will not move more than   
your eyes for these twenty-four hours. Instead you will allow your mind its   
reign and you will lay all the issues of your youth to rest that you may begin   
your new life the morning of tomorrow-after a man."  
  
*Ha! That's easy for him to say,* Tenchi thought, carefully maintaining a   
straight face before his grandfather's stern gaze, *He never even did this, and   
father certainly didn't have four women chasing after him, or a house-pet that   
changes into a spaceship when it feels like it, when he did this. Lay all my   
issues to rest... if sitting alone for a day would do it, I'd have done this a   
year ago!*  
  
"I will return for you in twenty-four hours Masaki Tenchi. You will   
question nothing which occurs in this time and you will obey these rules I have   
stated or you will be dishonored in the eyes of your family."  
  
With that Katsuhito stood and, striding quickly around the room, snuffed   
out all the candles but one. This candle, a tall one marked along its length   
with delicately painted characters showing the hours it had burned, was placed   
before Tenchi, centered between him and the cushion now sitting vacant. That   
accomplished, Katsuhito bowed as deeply as Noboyuki had toward Tenchi and then   
stepped out onto the stairs, once more sliding closed the door.  
  
Once he was sure they were well away, Tenchi sighed very softly,   
reasonably confident this didn't violate the rules his grandfather had given   
him, and thought, *At least the incense is burning out.*  
  
* * *  
  
The next morning began as most do in the Masaki household: all of the   
usual sunshine and birdsong, and Sasami cooking away in the kitchen before   
anyone else was awake (Washuu had once decided to perform an experiment   
involving that phenomena. She stayed awake, sitting in the kitchen all night   
and finally, just before the first birds had begun singing she had realized   
she'd left an experiment running in her lab. In the 15.3 seconds it took her   
to run in, shut it down and run back, Sasami had arrived and begun cooking. It   
was simply uncanny). An hour later when everyone had finally drifted into the   
dining room Sasami looked around, her round, pink eyes full of their usual   
mixture of excitement and concern, and asked, "Where's Tenchi?"  
  
"Yes," Aeka added, her gaze leveling almost, but not quite, directly on   
Ryouko, "Where is Lord Tenchi?"  
  
"Hey, what're you lookin' at me for Princess? I don't do Anything this   
early in the morning."  
  
"Tenchi is at the shrine," Katsuhito said, lifting a bit of food to his   
mouth, "This is very good Sasami."  
  
"The shrine? What's Lord Tenchi doing at the shrine at this hour?" Aeka   
asked.  
  
"As I'm sure you girls all know, today is Tenchi's twenty-first birthday.   
It's a tradition in my family that men begin their adult life by spending today   
in meditation." Noboyuki said simply, "He's up there now and he shouldn't be   
distracted," He grinned, "So you'll all have to just spend   
the day with me!"  
  
The girls collectively rolled their eyes.  
  
"But I wanted to give him his birthday present!" Ryouko whined,  
"I spent so long picking it out and--"  
  
"Oh hush Ryouko," Aeka interrupted, "It's probably something hentai anyway   
and this is obviously very important to honorable father and to Tenchi. We can   
give Lord Tenchi his gifts tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah, and I'll have time to make more treats so we can have a Really big   
party!" Sasami piped in.  
  
Ryouko looked sullen but sighed, "Oh all right. I guess one day can't   
hurt too much. But I'm not really hungry all of a sudden." And with that she   
phased out.  
  
"Wow, Ryouko's not hungry?" Mihoshi asked, looking startled, "I hope she's   
not sick. Maybe I should go pick her up some medicine."  
  
"She's just upset about not giving Tenchi his gift on his birthday   
Mihoshi," Washuu explained, "She'll get over it soon enough."  
  
"Oh," Mihoshi said. Then, suddenly struck by the particular level of   
every-day inspiration which only Mihoshi can achieve, "I'll go get her some   
chocolates then! She loves those kind with the cherries and the liquor in   
them!"  
  
"Hmph," Aeka snorted, "She just loves the liquor."  
  
"Come on Aeka," Sasami pleaded, "Lets go with Mihoshi. I wanna get some   
things for Tenchi's cake and maybe we can go by the pet store and see the   
bunnies and the kittens!"  
  
At the words 'bunnies' and 'kittens' everyone unconsciously turned to look   
over at Ryou-ohki. The cabbit, however, was thoroughly engrossed in a carrot   
nearly the size of her head and looked up to find all the attention suddenly   
focused on her fuzzy little self.  
  
"Mi...ya?"  
  
"It's settled then," Washuu declared, "Father will give us all a ride into   
town so we can go shopping. That way we won't all sit around feeling bad about   
leaving Tenchi alone on his birthday."  
  
"Four pretty girls want to go into town with me? Sounds like a good   
plan!" Noboyuki exclaimed.  
  
"Miya!"  
  
"Oh, sorry Ryou-ohki," Noboyuki amended himself, "Five pretty girls!"  
  
"Miya."  
  
"Want to come with us dad?"  
  
"Who, me?" Katsuhito asked, looking genuinely surprised over his cup of   
tea, "No, the night was too late for an old man like me and I'd just spoil you   
youngsters good time anyway. No, you go on without me."  
  
* * *  
  
Ryouko phased back in the attic and, despite knowing everyone was   
downstairs, looked carefully around before prying loose a floorboard and pulling   
a small, cloth-wrapped box out from beneath it. She unwrapped the box and   
opened it just a fraction, enough to see that its contents were still there   
intact only, before snapping it shut again and drawing the cloth back across it.  
  
"I don't care what they say, today's Tenchi's birthday and he's getting   
his gift today. Besides," Ryouko reasoned quietly, "Noboyuki didn't actually   
say I can't go see him. He just said Tenchi shouldn't be disturbed. I'll just   
give him his gift and leave. That won't disturb him."  
  
Ryouko placed the floorboard back in its spot and phased back out, leaving   
the attic empty of anything but dust and memories.  
  
* * *  
  
It was some time before Ryouko came back down off the roof of the Masaki   
house where she'd spent the morning alternately napping and trying to decide how   
best to present Tenchi with his birthday present without actually disturbing   
him. Normally she would have just phased in with her arms around him and opened   
the box in front of his face, but she felt that wouldn't be appropriate today.   
It wasn't that she didn't respect Noboyuki's family tradition. After all, if it   
was part of his family it must be part important to Tenchi too, and she wouldn't   
want to make him mad on his birthday. She toyed with the idea of just waiting   
until tomorrow like the other girls, but she really wanted this gift to be   
special to Tenchi.  
  
No, she decided, it had to be today. Before coming to Earth Ryouko had   
been on a few planets where people celebrated birthdays, but never one where so   
much significance was attached to any particular year. Today Tenchi would be   
twenty-one and, thanks to his father's tradition, officially a man. Tomorrow   
would just be any old day after he'd become a man, today was special.  
  
Ryouko stood and started to lift off of the roof to head for the shrine   
but stopped, hovering an inch above the shingles.  
  
*I should walk up there and give it to him.*  
  
*Why? He won't know. And why would you anyway? You always fly when you   
go up there.*  
  
*It's.. it's the right way to do it. Even if he doesn't know.*  
  
So she teleported back into the house and walked down the steps into the   
now empty hall. She looked around briefly, wondering where everyone had gone   
until finding the note pinned to the front door.  
  
Ryouko,  
We all went into town for the day with Father. We'll  
be back later. There's some lunch in the fridge, and don't  
bother Tenchi!  
Sasami  
  
Ryouko smiled and carefully avoided moving the note as she opened the   
door. She never used doors normally, so she could just say she hadn't seen it.   
And if the lunch turned up missing later, well, she'd burn that bridge when she   
came to it.  
  
* * *  
  
It was only the dawn of summertime and it was merely warm in the Okayama   
Prefecture rather than overly hot, so the warm breeze that lifted and tossed   
Ryouko's hair as she climbed the seemingly endless stairs up the mountainside   
wasn't unwelcome.  
  
*Phew,* Ryouko thought, *How does he climb up here every day, much less   
sweep all these stairs?*  
  
She smiled as she continued up the steps, thinking back on times she'd   
surprised Tenchi out here on the staircase during his daily chores, and the one   
time she'd talked him into having a picnic with her up here. She squeezed the   
box in her hands against her chest and sighed, looking up at the wind-blown tree   
branches overhead and said softly to the summer sun, "Maybe after I give him   
this he'll understand. Maybe he'll come up here with me again."  
  
Ryouko played back the events of that day over and over as she climbed the   
stairs, just as she had so many times before. It was the only time he'd been   
all alone with her without fear of one of the others bursting in on them. She'd   
planned it for weeks, an amazing amount of time considering most things in   
Ryouko's life got planned in a matter of minutes... sometimes minutes after   
she'd started doing them. The only things she'd planned longer than that were   
what she would say to Tenchi when she was finally free of the cave, and the gift   
in her hands. The first one hadn't gone so well.. she still wasn't sure what   
had happened there, too much time locked away all alone after too many years of   
blowing things up day in and day out she supposed. Hopefully the second one   
would go better... It had to, it just had to.  
  
* * *  
  
It had been a summer day not unlike the one she was now spending climbing   
stairs, except it was the fading end of summer, not the brightening beginning.   
She'd spent weeks carefully hinting to Tenchi that she wanted him to go on a   
picnic with her. Not an easy task for a space pirate used to being blunt.   
She'd spent nearly as long getting Sasami to teach her to make something,   
anything, without burning, undercooking, melting, or dissolving it. After   
nearly a dozen failed attempts they'd finally settled on soup. Not a terribly   
complex food and not the height of fine dining, but Ryouko found that even she   
had a hard time messing up when simply putting things in water until they were   
soft. She'd spent hours debating what to bring to drink that day. She must   
have come up with a dozen different scenarios where she could get Tenchi to   
drink just a little too much sake, but in the end had gone with lemonade,   
knowing that it was what Tenchi would want.  
  
They'd climbed up those stairs together, Tenchi holding the basket and   
Ryouko holding a folded blanket to sit on. She wondered the whole way at how   
easy it had been to get him to agree to the trip. Maybe it was all the hints,   
maybe it was something else.. but she'd just asked, "So Tenchi, are you going to   
take me for a picnic this weekend or what?"  
  
He'd blinked at her a couple of times and then smiled and nodded, "Sure   
Ryouko, that'd be nice."  
  
"Just us, right?" She'd asked, feeling it was going a bit too easily, "All   
alone? Me, you, and food?"  
  
He'd grinned and laughed, "Just me, you, and food. I promise."  
  
Back in the present Ryouko broke her recollection to chuckle quietly to   
herself, "Aeka still doesn't know about that day."  
  
They'd gotten up to a little trail leading away from the staircase after   
only ten minutes or so of climbing and set off down it a little ways. Ryouko   
told Tenchi a long, involved joke about three Jurain royals and a space-pirate   
while they walked that finally ended in with Tenchi having to set down the   
basket to keep from spilling its contents while he doubled over laughing.   
Ryouko grinned happily, it wasn't often she could make him this happy.  
  
They'd set out the blanket and the food and sat back, letting the warm   
summer sun wash over them. Finally Tenchi looked at the assortment of foods   
arranged around the blanket. Almost immediately he reached for the soup.   
Ryouko still wondered if perhaps Sasami had let slip about it, but she liked to   
think it was just chance.  
  
"Mmm, this is wonderful," he'd said after pouring two small bowls full,   
"Sasami must have found a new recipe for chicken noodle soup."  
  
Ryouko looked down, hoping to hide the blush that had suddenly risen to   
her cheeks, "I.. I made it, Tenchi."  
  
"You made this Ryouko?" He'd asked, giving her an odd, unreadable look.   
For a moment she was sure he would say something important, but then it   
disappeared from his eyes and he smiled his usual smile saying, "Wow, we should   
let you cook dinner sometime."  
  
She'd laughed and tossed a fallen leaf at him.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryouko sighed happily, her mind returning from the mists of memory just in   
time to realize she was nearly at the top of the steps. A few more and she'd be   
standing at the edge of the little flagged yard. She quickened her step and   
walked purposefully across the stones until she was only steps from the door she   
knew would lead her to Tenchi. She could almost feel him in there, see him in   
her mind's eye.. sitting cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed and his   
long hair hanging around his face, a light sheen of sweat covering muscles toned   
by days working the fields. The sudden clarity of the image brought her up   
short and she stopped only a few feet from the first step up to the doorway.  
  
*Why did I picture him like that? Tenchi always wears his hair back, and   
I have no idea what he's wearing. He usually wears that uniform I can never   
remember the name of when he practices with his grandfather.*  
  
"I thought Noboyuki said not to disturb Tenchi."  
  
Ryouko spun, bringing a hand up to form a ball of energy, but lowered it   
when she saw it was Katsuhito standing at the top of the steps.  
  
"Maybe," Ryouko responded, "But I wasn't going to disturb him. It's   
just.. I.. That is.." Unconsciously she tried to hide the cloth-wrapped package   
in her hands, but it was too late.  
  
"It's just that you wanted to give Tenchi his birthday present on his   
birthday, is that it?"  
  
She nodded, uncharacteristically at a loss for words.  
  
*Why am I reacting like this? What's wrong with me today?*  
  
"You may go in," Katsuhito began, causing Ryouko to look up, startled.   
She'd expected a reprimand and to be sent back to the house.  
  
"But," here he raised a finger in warning, "I give you permission only to   
enter. You will not disturb Tenchi's meditation traipsing in and out. If you   
go in, you will remain in there until midnight when I go in to bring him out.   
And you will meditate with him."  
  
"Why.. why are you letting me do this?" Ryouko asked, her voice full of   
confusion.  
  
"You'd prefer I tell you to go back home? If I say no, won't you just go   
in anyway when I'm not looking? I give you my permission to enter, but you will   
do so by my rules. This is a very serious matter for Tenchi and his honor could   
suffer greatly by your actions. I caution you not to open that door lightly."   
With that Katsuhito turned and walked back down the stairs, leaving Ryouko   
standing confused and alone, clutching the box in her hands.  
  
*Why am I so emotional today? Normally I'd rush right in, and I'd   
certainly not let him get away without me even making one intelligent remark.   
Is it this thing?* Ryouko looked down at the box in her hands, *but that doesn't   
make any sense. Maybe Washuu slipped me something at dinner last night..*  
  
* * *  
  
"Well, well, what're you doing up here?" The crab-haired genius currently   
inhabiting Ryouko's thoughts was also inhabiting the stairs down which Katsuhito   
was descending.  
  
"I had some business at the shrine." Katsuhito replied, "You did not go   
with the others?"  
  
"Sure I did! You think I'd miss out on chocolate, bunnies, and kittens?   
I'm the greatest genius scientist in the universe remember, being in two places   
at once is no biggie."  
  
"Musashi tells us to do no thing without reason," Katsuhito quoted, "What   
was your reason for doing this, Miss Washuu?"  
  
"Just Washuu, Lord Katsuhito. I wasn't sure you'd catch Ryouko. You know   
what she's going to do, don't you?"  
  
"Please, I've asked you before Miss Washuu. Just call me Katsuhito. It's   
who I am now. I know what she was planning on doing, yes."  
  
"Was planning? You stopped her then?" Washuu didn't seem to know if she   
wanted to sound happy or sad, her eyes betrayed a roiling welter of emotions.  
  
"No. I told her not to disturb him." Katsuhito started down the stairs   
again, past Washuu.  
  
She turned a few moments after he passed her by, but the words on her lips   
died there. Instead she simply skipped down the steps to catch up. "Hey, slow   
down. I'll walk with ya'."  
  
Katsuhito chuckled, "A young lady like yourself walking with an old man?   
What would people think? Go back to the kittens Miss Washuu."  
  
"I wasn't always this young, Lord Katsuhito." Washuu's voice seemed to   
deepen momentarily and her figure flashed briefly in the lengthening shadows   
cast by the trees beneath which they walked. Was she momentarily older, older   
even than the form she'd shown Tenchi, or was it merely a trick of the light?   
Katsuhito only smiled and kept walking.  
  
"Then walk with me if you wish Miss Washuu, an old man needs company on   
sunny summer days too."  
  
They walked together in silence for some time, the old man and the young   
girl, only their footsteps and the shushing of the tree branches breaking the   
silence of the day.  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"How did I know what, Miss Washuu?"  
  
"About Ryouko, about what she was going to do today."  
  
Katsuhito smiled and reached out to squeeze Washuu's shoulder, "Perhaps an   
old man still has a few things to teach an older genius, eh?"  
  
"Watch it old man or I'll make you like carrots as much as Ryou-ohki."  
  
"Watch it old woman or I'll tell Noboyuki you have intergalactic hentai."  
  
Washuu cringed and looked up at Katsuhito in awe.  
  
"Wow, maybe I really could learn a few things from you, Lord Katsuhito."  
  
* * *  
  
The air was very still in Katsuhito's meditation room. Tenchi blinked the   
sweat out of his eyes for the dozenth time in the past hour (he knew, thanks to   
the candle, just how slowly the hours were dragging past). He'd spent all   
morning thinking about his life and its problems just as he'd been instructed,   
but they only seemed to grow and loom larger and larger. Now all Tenchi wanted   
to do was curl up in a ball somewhere and go to sleep, but even that was denied   
him today.  
  
*It's almost enough to make me wish I were American. Over there they get   
cars and things for their twenty-first birthdays. Me, I'm sitting in a little   
room with no open windows in the middle of summer staring at a candle and   
wishing I could scratch the spot on my back that's been itching for hours.*  
  
Tenchi breathed another small sigh and started through the muscle-  
relaxation exercised his grandfather had taught him, keeping his legs and back   
from cramping without actually moving more than in tiny twitches.  
  
*And how am I supposed to solve my problems in here anyway? My only   
problem is with the girls, and I've spent more than enough sleepless nights   
thinking about that that there's no way one day in a hot little room trying to   
keep my back from cramping up is going to fix it. If I could just talk to   
them.. If I weren't such a coward about that. I went up against Kagato one-on-  
one with only a sword I didn't understand as my defense, but I can't even bring   
myself to talk to two women.*  
  
Tenchi finished his muscle-loosening exercise, slowly ran through some of   
his grandfather's favorite quotes by ancient strategists silently, counted the   
floorboards for probably the hundredth time, and then began the exercises again.  
  
* * *  
Ryouko pushed clothes around in her trunk, hunting for the brown-paper   
wrapped package she knew was down there somewhere. She'd teleported back to the   
house after her talk with Katsuhito, not in defeat, she told herself. Just to   
think. She had known that today's ritual was important for Tenchi already, but   
his grandfathers words had struck her hard. Ever since she'd been released from   
her imprisonment Ryouko had been impressed by the local Earthlings' sense of   
honor. Even on Jurai ethical issues were not so carefully debated, and Jurains were   
known for their honor. That she, by acting without thinking, could wound Tenchi   
that way was more than she wanted to consider.  
  
She'd not given up on seeing Tenchi today, of course. It was still his   
birthday and she was still determined to give him his gift today, but she had to   
be absolutely sure she was doing it just right. Going in there in the outfit   
she'd been wearing that morning wouldn't have been appropriate, she had   
realized. No, this was special and called for some special clothing and special   
behavior.  
  
Ryouko finally found the object of her search and held it up triumphantly   
before carefully unwrapping it. Inside the plain wrapping paper was a replica   
of Tenchi's mother's kimono, the one she had nearly ruined on another occasion   
she'd acted too rashly.  
  
It wasn't an exact duplicate. The colors were slightly different to   
compliment her hair and eyes. The cut was a bit different as well, Tenchi's   
mother was close to her size, but that kimono had felt a bit tight in some   
places and a bit loose in others. Also, it was sleeveless.  
  
Ryouko frowned, wondering if maybe she should pick something else. She   
didn't want to remind Tenchi of the anger he'd felt that day. She really did   
think she looked better without the long sleeves though, and this way Tenchi   
would be sure to not mistake it for his mothers, to know that this was something   
Ryouko had had made especially for him to see. Ryouko had been going to wear   
the kimono to Tenchi's birthday party, but supposed that if she was going to   
give him his gift today she might as well go all the way with it. Ryouko   
decided that wearing it was the right choice for the day and, smiling again,   
phased out of what she was wearing and into it.  
  
*Ha! I'd like to see Aeka do that! She always takes Forever getting   
dressed.*  
  
Ryouko tossed her outfit of the morning back into the trunk and turned to   
walk back out of the house.  
  
*Hmph. Acting honorably is all well and good,* She thought to herself,   
*But if I walk up there again it'll be almost evening by the time I get to   
Tenchi. And I did walk once already. I'll walk back down with him in the   
morning.*  
  
Having sufficiently justified a shortcut to herself Ryouko picked up the   
box again and phased out of her room.  
  
* * *  
  
"Do you think it will work?"  
  
Washuu and Katsuhito had reached the base of the mountain steps by this   
time and were now walking along the edge of the lake over which the Masaki house   
looked.  
  
"Do I think what will work?" Katsuhito asked in response to Washuu's   
question.  
  
"Ryouko's plan. What she's going to do up there."  
  
"Ah, so you think she will go through with it then?"  
  
Washuu raised an eyebrow at the old priest and asked in an incredulous   
voice, "Have you ever known Ryouko not to go through with something once she's   
decided on it?"  
  
Katsuhito nodded, stopping at the water's edge to stare out across its   
reflective surface.  
  
"Perhaps it will. Today Tenchi becomes a man and tomorrow he will not be   
the boy we have known. Who can say what the actions of a man will be, by   
looking at the life of a boy?"  
  
Washuu looked appraisingly up at the old priest, weighing options silently   
and finally reaching a conclusion.  
  
"I just worry. Ryouko... Ryouko is my daughter, for better or worse and   
whether she wants to admit it or not. I.. I haven't been the best mother. I   
know it, and maybe I don't have a right to be concerned about my daughter's   
welfare, but I just don't want my Ryouko being hurt again, she's had so much   
pain already."  
  
Katsuhito looked at Washuu, she was eye-level with him now, having   
apparently unconsciously shifted into her older form while talking about Ryouko.   
After a moment of looking into her lowered eyes, at the tear that had begun to   
form in the corner of one, he reached out and took Washuu's hand, squeezing it   
comfortingly.  
  
"I can see that you love your daughter. Someday she'll see it too."  
  
* * *  
  
Tenchi was nearly asleep when the door slid open. He nearly turned to   
look, wondering if he'd managed to fall asleep and let the day slip away from   
him, but the candle saved him. It still had around eight more hours to burn, so   
he knew he had another eight to go. So who could be coming in? He tried to   
look that way, but whomever it was had only cracked the door, slipped in, and   
slid it shut again. Now they were standing on the side out of his field of vision.  
  
*Grandfather said not to question anything that happens today. I knew   
that sounded suspicious. He's probably going to just stand over there and try   
to freak me out for the rest of the night.*  
  
Tenchi drew a deep breath through his nose and was about to commence   
another relaxation exercise when something in the air he'd just inhaled caught   
his attention.  
  
*Rose hips and jasmine? Grandfather always smells like old sandalwood.   
That.. that smells like Ryouko's perfume.* Tenchi's eyes widened as he realized   
the implications and he thought frantically, *Oh no! What's she doing in here?   
What if Grandfather comes in and catches her? Father will never talk to me   
again if I screw this up, it's so important to him!*  
  
Tenchi tried to will her to leave but she stubbornly refused to follow his   
unspoken commands.  
  
*If she's not going to get out of here, what's she doing?* He wondered,   
*What does she want? She's just been standing there for ten minutes now.   
That's not like her, she should have thrown herself all over me by now and be   
trying to drag me back to the house or something.*  
  
* * *  
  
Ryouko slid the door open only a fraction and slipped through, quickly   
closing it behind her. The room was lit only by the light of a single candle   
and the pale sunlight that filtered through the rice-paper shutters. Tenchi sat   
near the center of the room on a red cushion, his legs folded and his back   
straight. Just as she'd pictured him earlier his hair hung loose around his   
head and sweat covered his body from hours of sitting perfectly still in the   
summer heat.  
  
*How did I know?* Ryouko wondered silently, *How could I have pictured him   
so accurately?*  
  
She looked down a the box she held clutched tight to her chest and then   
back up at Tenchi. She stared at him silently for minutes on end. She wondered   
again if maybe this was the wrong thing to do.  
  
*Well, it's too late now. I'm in here and I can't leave until   
midnight, and I'm certainly not going to just stand here like a Mariffian   
Fauxtree for eight hours.* She squeezed Tenchi's gift and stepped away from the   
wall.  
  
* * *  
  
Tenchi closed his eyes when he heard the first footfall.  
  
*Maybe,* he thought, *If I don't look at her she'll go away. This is hard   
enough without her here.*  
  
The first step was followed by others, each muffled to little more than a   
soft pat by Ryouko's slippers. Tenchi could feel her approaching now. Sixteen   
hours alone in the still air had given him a good feel of the room and he could   
feel the air swirling around her as she crossed the floor. The scent of her   
perfume filled his nose, full of flavor after so long with only the stale scent   
of burnt incense. He heard her clothing rustle quietly as she sat down across   
from him and felt could almost feel her knees just inches away from his  
  
*What's she doing?! She shouldn't even be in here and now she's going to   
sit down?*  
  
Tenchi resolutely squeezed his eye shut, determined to keep them that way   
until she left or until someone else came in to his rescue.  
  
*Maybe if grandfather catches her in here I can say I was deep in   
meditation and didn't notice her coming in.* Tenchi sighed inwardly, *No, I'll   
just have to take the blame for her again. I wish she didn't act so rashly   
sometimes.*  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of the candle's familiar heat   
moving. Ryouko had picked it up and moved it to one side. Now she'd set   
something else down in its place, he heard her pulling cloth slowly across cloth   
and then the tiny squeak of some sort of hinges.  
  
*Now what is she up to?* He wondered, almost opening his eyes despite   
himself.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryouko quickly walked across the room and settled onto the cushion across   
from Tenchi. He had his eyes closed and he seemed to be breathing deeply. She   
hoped he hadn't fallen asleep.  
  
*He's probably just meditating like he's supposed to be. Well, I'll just   
put his gift here where he'll be sure to see it when he opens his eyes.*  
  
Ryouko carefully lifted the hour candle and placed it to the side before   
setting the box down on the floor between herself and Tenchi. She slowly   
unwrapped it and then opened the lid so it would be facing toward him. She   
glanced up at Tenchi a few times while doing this and noticed his eyes seemed to   
be squeezed shut. She hoped he wasn't really asleep and having a nightmare.   
She thought momentarily about waking him, but was so afraid of disturbing him   
she simply sat back and assumed a position as close to Tenchi's as possible   
while leaving her eyes open to see what he would do.  
  
They sat like that, his eyes closed and hers open, for at least an hour.   
She hadn't looked closely at the candle when she moved it, but was fairly sure   
it had burned down that far since then. Finally, when Ryouko had begun to fear   
he would remain deep in meditation for the whole night, Tenchi opened his eyes.  
  
* * *  
  
Katsuhito sipped gingerly at his tea, testing its heat while he looked out   
at the tree Funaho. He'd brewed the tea soon after Washuu had taken her leave   
to return to her other self with the rest of the girls in town. They had gone   
to a sushi bar for dinner and Mihoshi was making a mess of things.  
  
Katsuhito nodded, satisfied with the temperature of his tea. He drank   
deeply and looked up toward the spot on the mountain where he knew the shrine to   
be.  
  
"She hasn't returned yet. Perhaps I was right after all," Katsuhito   
looked out at the ancient Jurain tree, "What do you think mother, wherever you   
are now? Did I make a mistake, letting Ryouko do this?"  
  
* * *  
  
Tenchi wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting since Ryouko took up a   
position across from him. It might have been a few minutes, maybe an hour,   
possibly more. The entire time Tenchi tried ineffectually to avoid thinking   
about her, avoid wondering what it was she'd put down on the floor and why she   
was sitting so quietly over there. It wasn't like her at all. All in all he   
was not succeeding.  
  
Finally he could stand it no longer, he had to look. Tenchi opened his   
eyes slowly, allowing them to readjust to the dim light of the room after so   
long shut. When finally the world came back into proper focus he found   
himselfstaring into Ryouko's golden eyes. He'd never seen her looking at him   
quite the way she was now. A strange intensity mingled with a combination of   
fear, anxiety, hope, and concern. Come to think of it, Tenchi had never seen   
Ryouko look like that at anyone or anything. He started to ask her what was   
wrong but caught himself just in time. He realized he could do absolutely   
nothing to question his situation without breaking his father's ritual. He   
could not even frown or smile to express his opinion about Ryouko's presence.  
  
*Maybe she'll just tell me herself. She wouldn't sit there for this long   
without a good reason.*  
  
Ryouko, however, seemed singularly unhelpful today. She simply sat,   
moving no more than Tenchi did. He hoped she would do something, anything to   
tell him how she was feeling, but she didn't. Not even a hint of the usual   
playful smile she wore touched her lips, just that strange, intense gaze she was   
leveling at Tenchi.  
  
Finally remembering the reason he'd opened his eyes in the first place,   
Tenchi looked down to the floor between them, to the box Ryouko had placed   
there. It sat on a square of yellow cloth, obviously what it had been wrapped   
in. The box itself appeared to be rosewood coated in silk. The silk covering   
was green and inlaid with a delicate tapestry of patterns in gold. Within the   
box was lined in black satin. It was wide and flat, perhaps eight inches on a   
side and an inch thick. All this Tenchi noticed in a glance before his   
attention was drawn, no, riveted to its contents.  
  
Laying within the box, carefully mounted with a few pins, was a golden   
necklace. The chain was obviously meant to be worn by a man, thick but not so   
much so as to be garish. What truly commanded Tenchi's attention though was not   
the chain itself but rather what was hung from it. Near the bottom quadrant of   
the chain were two round, red gems. Between them hung an exquisitely worked   
kanji character representing the concept of the heart and spirit. As Tenchi   
stared at the necklace, wondering at its meaning, he noticed the tiny etchings   
down the center of the central character. He squinted to make them out without   
moving closer and, after a moment, realized it was Ryouko's name.  
  
Tenchi forced his gaze away from the necklace and the very familiar gems   
it bore and up to Ryouko's face. She bore exactly the same expression she had   
before, not a trace of a smile but no sign of a frown either. Tenchi had   
expected that, but his eyes went now to her ears. She'd pulled her hair back,   
he now saw, to expose them. The two gems she'd worn there, ones she'd   
fashioned in her centuries of imprisonment within the cave, were gone. He   
looked back down to the necklace but couldn't tell, were those two gems the ones   
she'd worn in her ears, or was one from the hilt of Tenchi-ken? And why had she   
given this to him? He longed to ask her, to understand what this was to   
symbolize, but his honor held his tongue. He could not even show his   
appreciation for this gift, couldn't put it on or thank her, couldn't do anything.  
  
Sitting there, looking up and down between her eyes and the necklace,   
hoping for some hint of meaning, he realized what Ryouko was wearing. At first   
he thought she'd donned his mother's kimono again, but then the details rose   
through the haze of confusion and he saw the differences. The lack of sleeves   
for one. Tenchi's memory flashed back to the time when he'd seen her rip the   
sleeves from the original, but there was none of the anger he'd felt at the   
time. That piece of clothing was repaired now, mended so the damage may as well   
have never existed by Washuu.  
  
*And I have to admit, she looks good without the sleeves. I've always   
thought you had beautiful arms, Ryouko.*  
  
Tenchi blinked, startled at his own thoughts, *Wow, where did That come   
from?*  
  
*You're a man now, right? What's the harm in appreciating a beautiful   
woman? It's not like you've never noticed before.*  
  
*Yes, but...* Tenchi's thoughts trailed off, he couldn't think of any   
reasonable argument for his own inner voice. So instead he simply sat and let   
his eyes take in the sight of her, the way the candlelight played off of her   
features and highlighted her eyes with a flickering, almost feral light.  
  
*How has she put up with me these years? I've never once told her I feel   
more affection for her than what I'd feel for a friend. I've hurt her feelings   
a hundred times, yet still she's here and she's given me this.. this! Either   
she's given up most of her powers for my gift or she's given me something she   
had for more years than I care to think about. I don't deserve it. Who am I to   
receive the affections of someone like her? Or like the princess? Or even   
Mihoshi and Washuu?*  
  
Tenchi sighed sadly and closed his eyes again, hoping to shut out the pain   
he felt knowing the pain he must have caused them all, Ryouko most of all.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryouko watched Tenchi watch her, watched his eyes widen as he looked down   
at the necklace, watched them chase around in confusion, watched them widen   
again when he realized what she was wearing, watched them close as he sighed in   
apparent sadness. She wondered what she had done wrong, or if she'd done   
anything wrong. Was her gift not good enough? Was he her clothing too much?   
Had she set him to thinking about his loss of his mother, or of the incident   
with the sleeves? Or had it been good, had he been happy with the gift and   
happy with her dress, but been sad because he couldn't tell her?  
  
*And why,* she wondered intensely, *Why did he close his eyes again? Why   
won't he look at me?*  
  
A thousand possibilities ran through her mind, chasing each other around   
like a horde of Ryou-ohki's in a carrot patch. Finally Ryouko sighed too and   
closed her own eyes.  
  
* * *  
  
The candle was nearing its end, the pool of wax surround its stand within   
the holder had nearly reached the candle's base and little of the final   
character was left to melt away.  
  
For all that time Tenchi and Ryouko had sat with their eyes closed, lost   
in their own thoughts, mainly thoughts about what the other might be thinking.  
  
Finally, their own contemplations culminating in frustration, the two   
opened their eyes almost simultaneously.  
  
*I wish...* they thought together, each wholly unaware of the other.  
  
*...I knew what he was thinking.*  
  
*...I could stop being such a coward.*  
  
The sound of the door sliding open distracted them both so neither saw the   
light which flickered deep within the gems on the necklace Ryouko had given   
Tenchi and both assumed that the sudden chill which washed over them was the   
effect of the door sliding open to let a cool draft into the still, heavy air of   
the room.  
  
Katsuhito stood there in the doorway, holding a paper lantern in one hand   
and the edge of the door in the other. Tenchi's grandfather didn't seem   
surprised to find two people there rather than one and Tenchi wondered at that,   
but carefully maintained his posture.  
  
"You can get up now Tenchi," Katsuhito said solemnly, "The twenty-four   
hours is over and the ritual requires no more ceremony. You can get up now too   
Ryouko and you're free to leave."  
  
Tenchi looked back and forth between his grandfather and Ryouko, wondering   
at the significance of that statement, seemingly directed at her, not at the   
both of them.  
  
*Free to leave?" He wondered, *Why wouldn't she have been free to leave   
before?*  
  
Ryouko bounced to her feet, or tried anyway. She got about halfway up   
before the muscles of her legs protested and dropped her back down. Tenchi, on   
the other hand, had kept himself loose and was able to scramble around, knocking   
the now extinguished candle aside, and catch her as she fell.  
  
"Are you okay Ryouko?" He asked, "It's dangerous to get up too quickly   
after sitting for so long if you don't know how to keep your muscles from   
cramping."  
  
Ryouko wasn't sure how to respond. She never had never had a muscle cramp   
and was fairly sure this had not been her first. She didn't feel pain, just   
weakness. It had, for a moment, felt as though all the energy in her body had   
been siphoned off, sucked out in a twinkling. It was flowing back now, but she   
felt weak, her legs still didn't want to move the way they should. But even as   
she started to explore this odd phenomenon she was distracted by one stranger   
still. A wave of sudden, strangely alien, and wholly unexpected emotion   
overtook her. It took a moment but she finally named it, concern. But not   
concern like she'd ever felt before. She'd worried about things, worried about   
Tenchi on a number of occasions. But it was always either just a nagging guilt   
or the overwhelming pain of thinking Tenchi was hurt or dead. She couldn't   
remember ever feeling concerned quite like this... a sort of soft worry. But   
why was she feeling it? She looked up at Tenchi as he held her in his arms and   
could almost see it radiating off of him in waves. What was happening to her?  
  
"Are you okay Ryouko?" He repeated, holding her carefully to avoid letting   
too much weight rest on her legs and tenderly brushing a wayward lock of hair   
out of her eyes.  
  
"Here, sit. Grandfather," Tenchi turned after lowering Ryouko gently to   
the floor, "Would you get a glass of water? Ryouko shouldn't have sat there   
like that for so long in this heat."  
  
Katsuhito looked back at his grandson, his eyes unreadable. Finally he   
nodded and turned, heading back out for the pump and spigot nearby.  
  
"I...I'm okay Tenchi." Ryouko finally managed, "Really. It wasn't the   
sitting, I just.. felt odd for a second there."  
  
She worked her way up to her feet, wincing as she stretched muscles taxed   
from too long in one position.  
  
"See? I'm fine." She smiled at him and tried to look nonchalant as she   
leaned against the wall for support.  
  
Tenchi looked dubious, but relented and walked over to stand next to her.  
  
"If you say so Ryouko, but you should still be careful. If you're ever   
going to do this again I'll teach you how to keep your legs from cramping."   
Tenchi put his arm around Ryouko's waist and draped her arm across his   
shoulders, saying, "Now come on, you have to walk it off or it won't get any   
better."  
  
Ryouko looked startled but went along almost out of reflex as Tenchi led   
her across the room, supporting most of her weight for her.  
  
*He's never gotten this close to me while we were both conscious of his   
own free will before,* she thought.  
  
Katsuhito returned to find Tenchi holding Ryouko's hand for balance while   
she walked across the room slightly unsteadily. He held out a cup of cool water   
saying, "Here you are Ryouko, drink up now."  
  
She smiled gratefully and sipped carefully at the water, the last thing   
she wanted now was a stomach cramp.  
  
"Come on you two," Katsuhito said, "It's late and Tenchi has a big day   
tomorrow. I'm told Sasami has quite a party planned."  
  
"Wait, I just wanted to..." Tenchi and Ryouko said at the same time,   
looking at each other and blushing slightly afterward. Tenchi nodded for Ryouko   
to go first.  
  
"I..." She stopped, seeming to gather her thoughts.  
  
"Did you like your gift, Tenchi?" She asked quickly.  
  
Tenchi smiled, leaning down to pick up the box and its wrapping cloth from   
the floor. He traced the kanji with one finger while smiling down at it, then   
looked up at Ryouko, the smile slowly fading.  
  
"Why did you give me this Ryouko?" He asked, "It's very beautiful, but   
what does it mean? Aren't these your gems?"  
  
Ryouko tilted her head, giving Tenchi that strangely intense gaze she had   
had before and stated simply, "It's my heart Tenchi. One of those gems I made   
in..." she paused, closed her eyes for a moment, then went on, "...in the cave.   
The other is from your sword. One is a part of me and the other a part of you,   
just like my heart, my soul, is a part of me, but now belongs to you."  
  
"But that means you don't have any of the real gems again," Tenchi said   
quizzically, "You're giving up your powers, for me?"  
  
Ryouko nodded silently.  
  
"I... I don't know what to say Ryouko. No one has ever given me something   
like this before, it's... I can't accept it, your power is so important to you,   
what right do I have to this?" Tenchi said, holding the box out to Ryouko.  
  
Ryouko smiled, she'd expected this, "Be careful Tenchi. That's yours now,   
a gift freely given. Are you sure you're ready to give your heart to me?"  
  
"I..." Tenchi looked down at the box, at the necklace inside it. He held   
it with both hands now, staring at it. Ryouko felt something, some strange   
feeling stronger even than the weird concern she'd felt earlier. It was like a   
tidal wave of emotions sweeping through her mind, washing away her thoughts in a   
flood of feeling. She stumbled, recovered, and stared at Tenchi. She had   
suspected before, but was sure now. These were his feelings, somehow being   
transferred onto her. She felt gratitude in the wave, along with happiness, but   
mainly she felt a wash of grief and intense longing for something just beyond   
her reach. Beyond his reach.  
  
Quickly she walked across the room and snapped the box shut. The flood of   
emotion winked out with it, replaced by what she now knew was his confusion. He   
looked up at her, his big brown eyes full of questions. Ryouko shook her head   
and put a finger across his lips.  
  
"You don't need to answer now," she said, "Just keep it, for me? It's not   
like we're fighting any demons right now anyway, right? If I need some extra   
energy you can let me borrow it, no strings attached. And maybe you can even   
wear it now and then, if you want."  
  
She looked at him searchingly, hoping that horrible feeling wouldn't   
return, hoping this was the right thing to say.  
  
"Okay," he nodded.  
  
Ryouko smiled again and winked, saying jokingly, "Come on Tenchi, lets get   
out of here. I've had enough of this room to last me a month."  
  
Tenchi laughed and Ryouko felt a ripple of his amusement.  
  
*Why is this happening,* she wondered, *What happened to make me feel what   
he feels?*  
  
They turned, suddenly conscious of the fact that Katsuhito had been in the   
room with them, but he was gone now. Slipped away into the night leaving his   
lantern on the doorstep.  
  
Tenchi picked up the lantern saying, "Come on, lets get back down to the   
house."  
  
Ryouko started to suggest she could just teleport them there, but then   
remembered her promise to herself earlier.  
  
* * *  
  
Tenchi and Ryouko walked silently down the staircase. After a day of   
being quiet Ryouko expected to have been brimming with things to say, but   
somehow she just couldn't make herself rise to conversation. Instead she walked   
along, thinking about how she'd felt what Tenchi was feeling and wondering what   
it could mean.  
  
*Maybe it was just my imagination,* Ryouko thought, *Sitting silently for   
too long is playing tricks on me.*  
  
As if to give the lie to her own thoughts she felt a sudden wave of...   
something from Tenchi. She couldn't quite pin it down, something like   
nostalgia, but tinged with more happiness than regret.  
  
"Remember that path," he asked, pointing off to the side of the stairs,   
"Where we had our picnic?"  
  
"Mmmhmm," Ryouko replied succinctly.  
  
"We should do that again sometime," Tenchi mused, "It was fun."  
  
"Mmmhmm," Ryouko repeated. Had she thought about his words she would have   
been elated, but she was concentrating too heavily on the emotions she felt that   
weren't her own. They slowly faded, leaving her with no less idea about their   
meaning than before.  
  
*What is Happening to me?* Ryouko thought desperately, *How can I feel his   
emotions? Am I imagining it? Did the heat really effect me that much?*  
  
She glanced at the box Tenchi carried almost reverently in his hands.  
  
*What if it's losing my gems? What if it's affecting my brain and I'm   
going nuts? But I won't ask for them back. I can't. They're his now, like my   
heart is his. He can give them back when he's ready. If imagining I can feel   
what he does is the cost of him having a part of me with him, I'll pay it.*  
  
* * *  
  
As they approached the house Tenchi seemed to reach some sort of   
conclusion. Ryouko couldn't define what it was, but something in his stride,   
the set of his shoulders, something told her he'd made some sort of decision and   
that his mood had improved as a result. She was about to ask him what he was   
thinking about when a dark figure leapt out into their path from the bushes, a   
single red eye burning in its forehead and the light of the moon flashing from   
its gaping maw.  
  
Ryouko held up her hand but even as the energy sword burned into life   
Tenchi stepped in front of her, his Lighthawk sword blazing blue fury before   
him. The creature fell backward away from it giving a startled, "Oof!"  
  
"Dad?!" Tenchi exclaimed, the sword vanishing as quickly as it appeared as   
he kneeled beside his fallen father.  
  
"Dad! I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you, I thought it was some demon   
coming to hurt Ryouko."  
  
*Coming to hurt me?* Ryouko thought incredulously *Usually I'm the one   
trying to keep the demons from hurting Tenchi...*  
  
"Wow, sorry son, I didn't mean to startle you like that. I was just   
hoping to get some video of my birthday boy!"  
  
Tenchi grinned and helped his father to his feet, retrieving the dropped   
camcorder from where it lay and inspecting it carefully before saying, "Looks   
like it didn't get damaged. What're you doing out so late dad? You can take   
pictures all day at the party tomorrow."  
  
"Hey, I didn't get any pictures of you all day on your twenty-first   
birthday Tenchi, how could any good father wait all those hours when he could be   
filming his son right now? You've made me very proud today Tenchi!"  
  
Noboyuki put the camcorder to his eye and started to aim it at Tenchi when   
he finally noticed Ryouko standing there behind him.  
  
"Ryouko? What're you doing out here at this time of night?" He grinned as   
an idea flashed to life, "Out to celebrate Tenchi being a man now, right?   
Trying for a little moonlight rendezvous?"  
  
"Aww, dad! Quit being so hentai! Ryouko was up at the shrine all day   
with--"  
  
"With Tenchi's grandfather, he was showing me pictures of Tenchi to cheer   
me up."  
  
Tenchi looked back at her and she felt a moment of confusion from him. It   
was obvious Noboyuki didn't know she'd been up at the shrine while he was   
meditating and Ryouko wasn't ready to risk letting him know now. She still   
feared hurting Tenchi's honor with his family too much to let on what had   
happened today without knowing how he would react first. Tenchi seemed to   
realize this, or some part of it at least, and nodded briefly at her.  
  
"Yeah dad, Ryouko was upset about missing my birthday too."  
  
"Well then! Perfectly understandable I suppose. What with how all you   
girls dote on my Tenchi!" He again raised the camcorder saying, "Come on   
Tenchi, give her a big kiss so I can get it on the camera. Oh, your mother   
would be so proud of you Tenchi, barely a man and already with so many beautiful   
women!"  
  
Tenchi smiled apologetically at Ryouko, who rolled her eyes   
conspiratorially in return. She was used to Noboyuki by now, she was even kind   
of fond of the guy. Once you got past all his hentai he wasn't really so bad.   
Then Tenchi did something she hadn't expected at all.  
  
"Here, play along so we can get him to leave us alone. Otherwise we'll be   
up all night waving at the camera," Tenchi whispered to her as he swept an arm   
around her and dipped her backwards. Before Ryouko knew what was happening   
Tenchi was kissing her, his lips pressed against hers. The emotions flowing   
through her came so thick and so fast she couldn't separate what was hers from   
what was his. She gave up trying quickly and closed her eyes, wrapping her arms   
around his neck.  
  
It was over too soon, a mere few seconds and Tenchi raised her back to her   
feet and winked a grin at her before turning back to his father.  
  
"There dad, can we go to bed now?"  
  
"Ha! I knew you had it in you son! You've just been playing hard to get   
all this time! Let's get on up to bed now, Sasami's made a feast for us   
tomorrow and has all sorts of things planned."  
  
Noboyuki clapped his son on the back and led him proudly up to the house,   
leaving Ryouko standing, staring after Tenchi with one hand pressed to her lips   
and an expression of mixed shock and joy in her eyes.  
  
--Two--  
A Mother's Love  
  
The party was a great success. Sasami's cooking was even better than   
usual, a feat nobody would have believed possible were the tasty evidence not so   
readily apparent. They played party games like charades (which is quite   
difficult when most of the players aren't from the same planet) and pin the   
carrot on the Ryou-ohki (which Ryou-ohki wasn't very good at since she kept   
eating her carrots). Noboyuki gave Tenchi a set of keys to the family van and a   
watch with more buttons on it than most calculators, Sasami gave him a DVD of   
his favorite anime, and Washuu gave him a holographic camera("You're a man now,   
right Tenchi? Time you started taking pictures of everything that moves like   
your dad then!"). Mihoshi gave him a t-shirt reading, "Kiss Me, I'm Jurain!"   
(Tenchi smiled and thanked her while trying to figure out how to lose it on the   
way to the washing machine), and finally it was Katsuhito's turn.  
  
"Here you are Tenchi," Katsuhito said, handing over a long, cylindrical   
package. Tenchi quickly unwrapped it and uncapped one end of the cardboard tube   
inside. Tilting it over to the side a beautifully worked samurai sword slid out   
into his hand.  
  
Katsuhito grinned at his grandson saying, "Tenchi-ken is fine for battling   
aliens and demons, but it's hardly right for practice or display."  
  
Tenchi gently stroked the carved ivory handle of thesword before answering   
his grandfather, "Domo arigato gozimasu, jii-chan. It is very beautiful."  
  
Tenchi carefully set the sword down as Aeka handed him her gift. Tenchi   
unwrapped the small package nervously, hoping it wasn't what he was afraid it   
was. He opened the small box revealed under the wrapping paper to find what   
appeared to be a bit of cord woven from tree bark. He fingered its rough   
texture and looked up at Aeka questioningly.  
  
"It's a hair band, Lord Tenchi," Aeka answered in response to his unasked   
question, "It's woven from some of Ryu-oh's bark. I had mother get it done   
between her last visits. You are Jurain, after all, and many Jurain men wear   
them."  
  
"Thank you Aeka, it's a very thoughtful gift."  
  
"You're quite welcome Lord Tenchi." Aeka smiled happily as Tenchi wound   
the band into his hair in place of the rubber band he'd had there. Then she   
turned to Ryouko asking, "What about you Ryouko? Where's the gift that you were   
so anxious to give Lord Tenchi yesterday?"  
  
"Oh! She already gave it to me Aeka," Tenchi answered in Ryouko's stead,   
"Here, look."  
  
Tenchi reached up and drew the golden chain from under his collar where it   
had been invisible until then. Ryouko's eyes widened as she realized he'd been   
wearing it all day, and widened further when she felt the warmth flowing from   
him when he looked at it.  
  
"Oh," Aeka said, looking a bit defeated, "It's very pretty."  
  
"Mmm," Tenchi murmured in agreement. He ran his finger across the kanji   
character where Ryouko knew her name was etched once before slipping it back   
under his shirt.  
  
Washuu was staring intently at Ryouko, a calculating look in her eyes,   
while the rest of the party shifted its attention to Sasami as she brought out   
the cake.  
  
They all stood and headed for the dining room table while Noboyuki turned   
down the lights so Sasami could light the candles. Washuu approached Ryouko and   
was about to speak when Ryouko beat her to it.  
  
"Washuu? Could I talk to you later? After the party is over?"  
  
"Why of course Ryouko, I've always got time for my favorite daughter!"  
  
Washuu waited, but when no retort seemed forthcoming she instead   
intensified the level of calculation present in her looks at Ryouko.  
  
* * *  
  
Songs were sung, cake consumed, and much fun was had by all, but   
eventually the party wound down and when Sasami started yawning they decided to   
call it a night. Sasami headed up to bed, Aeka following to tuck her in for the   
night. Washuu retreated to her lab, followed shortly by Ryouko. Mihoshi fell   
asleep on a living room chair, Noboyuki settled in to watch television,   
Katsuhito headed off to the shrine, and Tenchi went up to his bedroom, arms   
laden with his gifts.  
  
* * *  
  
"That was sure a pretty necklace Ryouko gave Tenchi, wasn't it Aeka?"  
  
Aeka stiffened slightly for a moment before replying, "Yes, Sasami. Very   
nice."  
  
"And he seemed to really like it a lot." Sasami yawned widely before   
continuing, "I'm glad Ryouko got him something so nice. I was afraid she really   
would get him something hentai."  
  
Aeka chuckled, but even Sasami could tell it was forced. She wasn't sure   
why her sister would be upset though. Tenchi had liked everybody's gifts, even   
Mihoshi's, and it was nice Tenchi could have something nice from Ryouko. Sasami   
rolled over on her futon and smiled, happy that she could have such a big, happy   
family.  
  
"Goodnight Aeka."  
  
"Goodnight Sasami."  
  
* * *  
  
In the depths of Washuu's lab the scientist sat surrounded by a   
bewildering array of equipment. From there she could monitor things going on   
almost anywhere in the galaxy, but right now her attention was focused on   
monitoring Ryouko.  
  
"So what did-ja want to talk to me about Ryouko?"  
  
Ryouko seemed much more reticent than normal as she replied in a quiet,   
halting voice, "Well... I've been having this sort of problem... with Tenchi."  
  
"Problems with Tenchi? You didn't have to come to me for that Ryouko, you   
can get some of that Earthling Viagra if that's all it is."  
  
Ryouko blinked at the little scientist a few times and then slowly turned   
bright red as she realized what Washuu was referring to.  
  
"No!" she exclaimed, "It's not that! Not anything like that!"  
  
*Wow,* Ryouko thought, *Tenchi must be rubbing off on me. I never get   
that embarrassed about that. Listen to me, I can't even think about... it.*  
  
"Well, what is it then?" Washuu asked, her demeanor shifting back to   
seriousness.  
  
"Yesterday, when you all went into town, I.. I went up to the shrine to   
see Tenchi. I wanted to give him his birthday present on his birthday." She   
said it quickly, as though wanting to get it all out before she lost her nerve.  
  
"Oh, I knew about that."  
  
"What! But how?"  
  
"I'm the greatest genius scientist in the universe, remember? But what's   
the problem? He seems to have liked the gift. Is it your powers? I know what   
was on that necklace."  
  
*She must know what it took for me to give up that gem then too. No   
wonder she's been staring at me.*  
  
"No, it's not that. I didn't have any of the gems for a long time, I can   
handle using a replica one until..." Ryouko trailed off, unable to finish her   
thought.  
  
Washuu nodded, it was as she thought then. She'd asked Tenchi after all.   
What she still didn't understand, though, was what had happened afterward. She   
couldn't get anything out of Katsuhito and she didn't see how Tenchi could still   
have the necklace and Ryouko be in such a good mood all day. She reached out and   
laid her hand on Ryouko's where the former space-pirate had them folded in her lap.   
Ryouko looked down, a bit startled at the show of compassion, but didn't try to   
move away.  
  
"Ever since Tenchi's grandfather came to get us last night, I've been able   
to.. It's like I can.."  
  
"Take your time Ryouko, I'm listening."  
  
Ryouko took a deep breath, closing her eyes and bowing her head for a   
moment to put her thoughts together. She'd tried to be logical about this, but   
it was getting to her. Feeling emotions she knew weren't her own, sudden   
changes of mood she couldn't explain. She barely felt like herself. She hadn't   
even fought with Aeka.  
  
"I can feel what he's feeling. When Tenchi's happy, I feel his happiness.   
When he's sad, it washes over me like a thundercloud." Ryouko looked up at   
Washuu, searching the scientist's face for some hint of recognition, "How can   
that be possible? And why now all of a sudden?"  
  
Washuu was taken aback. This wasn't anything she'd been expecting when   
Ryouko had asked to talk to her. She thought back, but couldn't think of a   
single time Ryouko had ever come to her asking for her knowledge when it wasn't   
a situation of life or death. Washuu's mind churned and a hundred possible   
means by which to do what Ryouko was describing leapt forth, but none of them   
seemed to fit the description. She was about to launch into a description of   
the emotional process in humans when a sudden thought took her.  
  
"Does it.. hurt?" Washuu asked hesitantly.  
  
Ryouko looked at her silently for a moment before answering, "No, not   
really. It hurts when he hurts, but otherwise it's sort of nice I guess. I've   
never felt so in touch with him before. I was just worried... This has never   
happened before. I was afraid of what it might mean." It all seemed to come   
gushing out of her before Ryouko knew what she was saying.  
  
"Then maybe we shouldn't question it. Maybe it's a gift. If it ever   
stops being good, come back and I'll hook up my machines." Washuu grinned at   
her and squeezed the space-pirate's hand.  
  
Ryouko smiled and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, maybe you're right. I guess I just needed someone to tell me I'm   
not going crazy."  
  
"Of course I'm right!"  
  
Ryouko chuckled softly and put one of her hands on top of Washuu's.  
  
"Thanks..." Ryouko looked down at her hands and said in nearly a whisper,   
"Thanks...mom."  
  
Washuu froze at Ryouko's words, her heart nearly stopping for a moment.   
Then slowly, very slowly, she reached out and patted her daughter's shoulder.  
  
"Any time, Ryouko. Any time."  
  
--Three--  
Confusion  
  
Days passed as normally as is possible in the Masaki household. Tenchi   
went out to work in the fields and do his shrine chores daily and Ryouko went   
out with him for the first time. Tenchi was a bit suspicious when she asked if   
she could but when she explained that she just wanted to help out he decided to   
take it at face value.  
  
As for Tenchi, he felt better than he had in months. The gray veil that   
had been covering his world seemed to have dissolved on his birthday. He wasn't   
sure what it was, but when he thought about his problems with the girls now, it   
didn't seem so horrible. It was still hard to think about, of course, but he no   
longer felt like he was slipping down into a dark hole from which there was no   
escape. And he was feeling somehow less.. restrained. Now when Ryouko flirted   
with him instead of blushing and trying to run he'd just grin at her and, once   
or twice, he even flirted back. Instead of trying to defuse every argument   
that cropped up by telling everyone to calm down ineffectually he seemed able to   
take charge of the situation, talk the girls out of whatever mood they'd gotten   
into and nothing had been blown up in nearly a week. He was starting to think   
it was the necklace Ryouko had given him. He reasoned that perhaps there was   
some power in the gems that gave him confidence and so he now wore it   
everywhere. Not that he wouldn't have worn it otherwise, he often reminded   
himself. The sacrifice Ryouko had made to make it for him humbled Tenchi every  
time he looked at it. Even in his newfound good spirits Tenchi couldn't find it   
within himself to believe that he deserved such a gift, or deserved the emotion   
that would lead to Ryouko giving it to him.  
  
Yes, life was good for Tenchi Masaki. At least, it was until one day...  
  
* * *  
  
Aeka dried her hands on the dish towel and sighed. She had just finished   
drying the morning dishes when she saw Ryouko and Tenchi headed off to the   
fields from the kitchen window. That was every day this week.  
  
Absently laying the the towel down on the counter, Aeka walked to the   
refridgerator and poured herself a glass of apple juice. She went to the   
kitchen table and sat down, all the while functioning on autopilot, her mind   
lost in thoughts about the changes she had seen developing in Tenchi.   
  
*Why does he spend so much time with her?* Aeka wondered, *If she wants   
to work the garden and do his shrine chores so much, why not let her and come   
spend a day with me once in a while? There's certainly no lack of chores around   
here to be done. Not that Ryouko would know.* Ryouko's new enthusiasm for   
work, Aeka had noticed, only seemed to extend to those chores which involved   
being around Tenchi.   
  
*Ever since his birthday she's been spending all day with him nearly every   
day,* Aeka thought, *But why does Tenchi put up with it? He always used to get   
tired of her antics fairly quickly, but now he seems happy to spend time with   
her.*   
  
Aeka wondered if something had happened on Tenchi's birthday while the   
rest of them were in town with Noboyuki, perhaps Ryouko had managed to sneak off   
with Tenchi again, like that day last summer? Ryouko didn't think shew knew   
about that, but Sasami had confessed a few weeks too late for Aeka to stop it.   
*He never went on a picnic with me. Not that I was ever so crass as to come   
right out and ask him like She did, but I hinted enough that he should have   
known.* Finally she shook her head though, if Ryouko had disturbed Tenchi's   
meditation that day he surely would have been furious with her, not willing to   
spend even more time with her.  
  
*What could have happened to change him so? Tenchi hasn't been acting   
like himself at all since his birthday. Not only going out all day with that   
woman, he's been so...* She couldn't seem to put her feelings about how Tenchi   
had acted for the past month into words. He'd been different, certainly, but   
how exactly? He seemed so much calmer now, she couldn't remember the last time   
he'd gotten flustered and run away from any of them. Aeka blushed as she   
remembered the day Tenchi had complimented her dress.  
  
"Wow Aeka, you look really good this morning," he had said as she came   
down for breakfast, "You should wear that color more often, it goes with your   
hair so well." She remembered being too startled to talk for most of the meal.   
Tenchi hardly ever noticed what she was wearing, and he certainly had never been   
the type to dole out compliments.   
  
*Not that all the change is on Lord Tenchi's part,* Aeka thought,   
remembering Ryouko's actions of that morning, *She didn't even glare at him,   
just smiled at me and kept eating. Perhaps she's simply been acting all this   
time to get closer to Tenchi?* The thought excited Aeka. If Ryouko were merely   
playing at being the calmer, more thoughtful girl she'd been acting of late it   
meant Aeka might be able to expose her to Tenchi, show him that she was still   
the rude, thoughtless pirate whom he had always avoided spending time with.   
  
Aeka sighed again, wondering why she had been thinking so harshly of   
Ryouko lately. Until Tenchi's birthday they had been getting along quite well,   
Aeka had even begun to think of Ryouko as a friend rather than an enemy.   
Lately, though, Aeka had been having difficulty thinking of her as anything but   
a conniving pirate again. *It's so obvious that she's simply maneuvering to   
spend more time with him,* Aeka thought in frustration, *Why can't Tenchi see   
it? Why does he play into her hands? And what has she been doing to make him   
act so differently?*   
  
A week ago Tenchi had gone into the city with his father for the day to   
meet some people Noboyuki worked with. Tenchi wanted to follow in his father's   
footsteps by studying architecture in college and Noboyuki thought it would be a   
good idea for Tenchi to start making his contacts early, rather than struggle   
after college like he had. The incident Aeka remembered now, though, had   
happened after Tenchi returned that evening. Ryouko had appeared in the   
hallway, throwing herself all over him as usual. But instead of pushing her   
away as Aeka had expected, he'd hugged her, actually Hugged her, and said he'd   
missed her too. Aeka didn't think he knew she had witnessed the exchange from   
the balcony, but she had been crushed. Tenchi had certainly been warmer in   
talking to her, but never, never did he hug her or come home saying, 'Hi Aeka, I   
missed you.'  
  
Aeka rested her head on her hands, trying to hold back tears. She felt   
like Tenchi was slipping away from her. She'd always known there was some small   
chance that he wouldn't choose her when the day came he was ready, but this past   
month it was like he was drifting further and further away. *No,* Aeka thought   
ruefully, *Not drifting. Ryouko is pulling him away. I don't know what, but   
she must be doing something to make Lord Tenchi act this way.*  
  
Aeka's arms slid on the smooth surface of the table, knocking her   
forgotten juice to the floor where the glass shattered noisily. Aeka paid it no   
attention, she barely heard it. Her head resting on the table and tears now   
flowing freely Aeka moaned softly to the empty room, "What am I going to do?   
What if he actually... If she..." But not matter how she approached it, Aeka   
could not voice her fear that she would lose Tenchi to Ryouko, that he would   
choose the pirate over the princess.  
  
Aeka cried softly in the sunlit kitchen, her tears staining the table as   
the juice slowly spread across the floor. "Oh Tenchi," she whispered, "Tenchi,   
Tenchi, Tenchi..."  
  
* * *  
  
Tenchi pulled off his shoes as he entered the house and bent over to pick   
up his slippers while handing Ryouko hers. She'd spent the day helping him   
sweep the stairs up to the shrine and, given the heat of the day, they were both   
ready for a dip in cool waters of the pool Washuu had added to her floating   
onsen last summer. Aeka watched from the doorway into the kitchen as Tenchi   
laughed with Ryouko over some joke they had shared on the way into the house.   
She sighed in frustration, wishing she could think of a way to spend so much   
time alone with Tenchi without it being horribly obvious that was what she was   
doing.  
  
*Oh yes,* Aeka thought, *She's found a good scheme this time. I can't   
even accuse her of hogging Tenchi to herself because she's just 'helping out'.*  
  
Aeka was about to step out into the hallway in order to welcome Tenchi   
home when he pulled his shirt off, wiping the sweat dripping from his forehead   
with it before tossing it on top of his shoes. Aeka felt her face flushing in   
embarassment. She had, of course, seen Tenchi in states of underess before, but   
since discovering her feelings for him he had always been so shy about it that   
now she felt vaugely ashamed for watching him this way. The heat in her face   
quickly shifted from embarassment to anger as she watched Ryouko reach out to   
touch Tenchi's bare arm and make some inane comment about his muscles. Instead   
of flinching away from her, as Aeka would have expected Tenchi to do, he laughed   
and flexed comically. And there, as he turned, was that damn necklace. Did he   
ever take that thing off?  
  
Aeka fought to control her emotions and rid the flush from her cheeks.   
She was once more about to step out into the hallway when, as she watched with   
mounting horror, Ryouko stepped close to Tenchi and placed her hand on his bare   
chest. She leaned her head next to his and whispered something too quietly for   
Aeka to hear. Once more Tenchi failed to draw away from her. Aeka felt the   
fury rising within herself again, how dare that woman put her hands all over her   
Tenchi like that? And why did he not stop her? Finally, unable to stand any   
more of the shocking display, Aeka strode out of the doorway.  
  
"And just what is going on here?" Aeka demanded.  
  
"Oh, hi Aeka!" Tenchi greeted her, now stepping back from Ryouko,   
seemingly unconsciously. He did not, however, step very far back. "We were   
just about to go up to the pool for a swim. Want to come?"  
  
"Yeah Princess, wanna join the party?" Ryouko had lowered her hand to her   
side but was smiling jovially at Aeka as though nothing untowared had just been   
in the midst of occuring, "Where's Sasami? She loves swimming."  
  
"No, I most certainly do not want to 'join the party'!" Aeka declared in   
nearly a shout, "And just what do you think you were doing with your paws all   
over Lord Tenchi? And what were you thinking, Tenchi, disrobing in front of   
that.. that woman?!"  
  
"Woah, Aeka, what's wrong?" Tenchi asked, taking a step toward her and   
placing his hand on her arm in a show of concern.  
  
"Yeah, did something happen?" Ryouko asked, sounding genuinely concerned   
herself.   
  
Aeka looked back and forth between them, at Tenchi's hand resting on her   
arm where a month ago he wouldn't have had the courage to so much as brush a   
fingertip, at Ryouko who was looking at her with a worried expression rather than   
the one of challenge and scorn she'd expected, at the two gems sparkling on   
Tenchi's necklace.  
  
*So that's how she's doing it!* Aeka thought triumphantly.  
  
Striking quickly Aeka reached out and snatched the necklace from around   
Tenchi's neck, breaking the delicate clasp. She held it up above her head in   
triumph and exclaimed, "Hah! You'll not twist Lord Tenchi's mind anymore Ryouko!"  
  
"Aeka!" Tenchi exclaimed, clutching at his chest where the familiar weight   
of the necklace no longer hung, "Why did you do that?!"  
  
Ryouko rested a hand on Tenchi's shoulder and frowned at Aeka, but   
remained silent.  
  
"She was using these," Aeka proclaimed, pointing at the gems, "To make you   
spend all your time with her! Now she'll just have to admit it and face the   
consequences."  
  
"What? What are you talking about Aeka?" Tenchi looked puzzled and   
worried, wondering what had so upset the princess.  
  
"It's time you made your choice Tenchi," Aeka explained more calmly, "Time   
that you gave the space-witch the boot and admit that we are destined for each   
other. And now that I've taken her tool of deception away you can make it   
without her cruel interference."  
  
"What? But, Aeka-" Tenchi began.  
  
"No buts this time Tenchi," Aeka interrupted, "I've watched her trying to   
corrupt you long enough and it's time you settled this once and for all!"  
  
Ryouko watched this exchange with growing concern. Not that Tenchi would   
really kick her out of his life, not that Aeka had totally lost her hold on   
sanity, Ryouko was worried because of what she was feeling from Tenchi.  
  
In the past month her empathy had seemed to recede, as if the closer she   
got to him the less she needed it to feel close to him and the less it happened.   
But now it was in full force and waves of despair were rolling off of him like   
breakers at the beach on a stormy day. And something new was happening this   
time, she was seeing little flashes of memories... she remembered the occasions   
herself, but knew that these were not her own memories, not only because of   
their foreign texture, but because they were obviously from Tenchi's point of   
view.  
As Aeka ranted on about Tenchi making up his mind they came faster and clearer   
until finally...  
  
  
"It's time you made your choice Tenchi," the memory-Ryouko said.  
  
"Yes, Lord Tenchi, it's time that you tell us who you love and who should   
get her cyan-haired self off the planet," memory-Aeka added, leveling a look   
full of venom at Ryouko.  
  
"Yeah," Ryouko responded, returning the malevolent glare, "Tell this   
princess to get her royal butt out of here Tenchi!"  
  
"Ha! You'll be the one leaving, space-dog!"  
  
"Space-dog?! Why, I ought to..."  
  
*Oh no... they're doing it again*  
  
Ryouko heard Tenchi's voice in her mind as clearly as she normally heard   
her own. She could feel that it was part of this recollection, part of the   
memory she was sharing with him, but it was  
still a very strange sensation.  
  
*Why won't they stop this? How can I make them understand I can't say I   
love one of them more than the other? I don't even know if I do yet, and even   
if I did, how could I hurt one of them like that? How can I make them   
understand that I can't hurt someone like that?*  
  
"Come on Tenchi! Make up your mind!" memory-Ryouko demanded. Inwardly   
the modern Ryouko cringed from her own voice. Had she really sounded like that?   
Really demanded something of Tenchi like that?  
  
*Don't they see that I don't deserve all their attention? I can't even   
decide if I'm in love!*  
  
The memory view shifted around as Tenchi searched for some way to escape,   
but nothing offered itself. Aeka and Ryouko's voices raised to screams as they   
insulted one another and demanded that Tenchi make a  
choice he not only felt incapable of, but wasn't sure he even wanted to make in   
the first place.  
  
*Oh, please stop... please stop...*  
  
The pain of the memory battered Ryouko's mind like a brick wall at mach   
two. She fell over in the hallway, curling into a fetal position on the floor   
with her head clutched in her hands.  
  
*Please stop... please... please...*  
  
Ryouko was mumbling something under her breath, but Tenchi couldn't make   
it out as he knelt beside her, calling her name and holding her shoulders.  
  
"Aeka! Go get Washuu! Hurry!"  
  
"What? Why should I help Her?" Aeka could barely believe she'd said it,   
but she didn't take it back. That... that... that bitch was trying to steal her   
Tenchi, and this was obviously just a ploy to distract him.  
  
"Put her down, Tenchi! She's just faking it to keep you from telling her   
how you really feel!"  
  
Tenchi held Ryouko against his chest and looked up at Aeka. The anger   
etched into every line of his face forced Aeka back a step. That he could look   
at her like that...  
  
"Go! Now!"  
  
She went.  
  
* * *  
  
The machines, above which Ryouko now hovered, hummed quietly in their   
corner of Washuu's lab. The little scientist looked up from her floating   
console to where Tenchi stood, had stood for hours since Washuu had brought a   
catatonic Ryouko in. He wasn't sure where Aeka had gone, he couldn't remember   
what he said to her after demanding she go get Washuu. He wasn't sure he'd said   
anything. Everything since Ryouko had collapsed was a blur.  
  
*How could Aeka do that?* he wondered, *How could she accuse Ryouko of   
something like that? And why did she.. why did she demand That of me again?   
Was I really doing something wrong, letting Ryouko help me with the chores?*  
  
"Her condition is improving," Washuu announced, "She went into some kind   
of feedback loop and her brain tried to shut down in response. I managed to   
track down the source of her empathy and shut it down. She'll be okay, but she   
won't be empathic anymore."  
  
"Empathy? Empathic? What are you talking about Washuu?" Tenchi asked,   
looking puzzled while he gently, and apparently unconsciously, stroked Ryouko's   
hand.  
  
"She didn't tell you?" Washuu asked, feeling as though she'd just stuck a   
foot the size of a small star in her mouth.  
  
"Tell me what? What's going on here?"  
  
Washuu sighed and rubbed her eyes.  
  
"I should let her tell you herself, but I guess It's too late now. On   
your birthday Ryouko somehow gained the ability to feel a portion of any strong   
emotions you felt. You probably noticed that she's been acting a lot calmer   
lately? A lot more... well... like you? Her mental patterns were shifting in   
response to what she was getting from you. Today you remembered some   
particularly traumatic event that involved her. It sent her into a cycle of   
pain and depression she couldn't get out of."  
  
Tenchi looked at Washuu blankly, trying to process all of it. He shook   
his head finally, asking, "You mean she hasn't really been Ryouko? She's   
been... me?"  
  
"No Tenchi," Washuu explained, "She's still been just as much Ryouko as   
she ever has. All the feelings and emotions have been there all along, but   
feeling them through you let her experience them without going through all the   
mental blocks she set up during her imprisonment. You helped her break those   
blocks. She told me that lately the empathy was going away on its own... she   
didn't need it anymore and it was receding, letting her feel her own feelings."  
  
Tenchi shook his head again. It was all too much in one day. He   
understood that Ryouko had been somehow feeling what he felt and that it had   
helped her let her own feelings out, but he didn't want to think about it   
anymore. He looked down at her, floating in the soft green suspension field of   
Washuu's machinery.  
  
"There's something else too, Tenchi."  
  
He looked over at Washuu, wondering what else could possibly happen today.  
  
"It wasn't just one way. You were getting some of her feelings too. They   
were shutting down all the barriers you've set up to keep you from hurting   
people's feelings. All the things that have kept you timid all your life have   
been wiped away."  
  
Washuu held her hands up in defense, "Don't get me wrong Tenchi, we all   
loved you like you were, and you're still the sweetest Earthling I know, but you   
were a bit of an emotional coward. Ryouko's bravery helped you get past that.   
Now you speak your mind and people see that. Haven't you noticed how much more   
easily you've been dealing with all of us?"  
  
Tenchi nodded, thinking about his own thoughts in recent days, about the   
way he'd been acting with all the girls, and about Ryouko.  
  
"How did it happen Washuu?"  
  
The scientist scratched her head, "It was the necklace Tenchi. Aeka was   
right, Ryouko really was influencing your thoughts with it... but not on   
purpose, and not to the worse. Somehow the combination of the gems with   
whatever the two of you went through in the shrine on your birthday enabled this   
connection. Look, she's waking up."  
  
Tenchi kneeled so he could be at eye level with Ryouko as she regained   
consciousness.  
  
"Hi Tenchi." It came out as barely a whisper.  
  
"Hi Ryouko." Tenchi smiled and brushed the hair out of her eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry I caused so much trouble today. I should go apologize to Aeka   
for not being more sensitive."  
  
Tenchi smiled again and wondered how he could have missed seeing the   
difference in Ryouko before. Admittedly she wasn't normally like this, he   
supposed being catatonically depressed did something to a person.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll go talk to her. I don't think she wants to see you   
right now anyway."  
  
Ryouko nodded weakly, reaching up with obvious effort to brush her   
fingertips against Tenchi's cheek.  
  
"I'm glad I didn't lose you, Ryouko."  
  
The space pirate grinned, giving a bit of the usual energy to her tired   
eyes, and replied, "Ha. It'll take more than that to keep me away from you   
Tenchi. You've got my heart, I'm not going anywhere."  
  
Tenchi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked up at Washuu   
who, seeing the look in his eyes, nodded and stepped through a convenient inter-  
dimensional doorway. Turning his attention back to Ryouko Tenchi reached into   
his pocket.  
  
"I'm afraid it's not in the condition it was when I got it..."  
  
Tenchi took Ryouko's hand and gently curled her fingers around the object   
he placed in it.  
  
"But for better or worse, I'm giving this back to you."  
  
Ryouko looked at the necklace laying cupped in her hand, then back up at   
Tenchi.  
  
"Do you mean..." she asked, a note of fearful anticipation creeping into   
her voice.  
  
"Yes," Tenchi nodded, closing her hand back around the necklace and   
holding it shut with both of his, "I love you Ryouko and I'm giving you my   
heart."  
  
End  



End file.
